Reducing Reading Anxiety and Enhancing Reading Attitudes Through Interactive Read-Aloud: An Action Research Study with Second-Grade Students

Abstract

The study recommended implementing teacher-led, face-to-face interactive read-aloud activities with children’s picture books to support students with high reading anxiety and negative attitudes toward reading. The study employed an action research design and included a sample of 32 second-grade primary school students. The students participated in a 13-week interactive read-aloud program designed to address reading anxiety and reading attitudes. Picture storybooks were used as instructional materials throughout the intervention. The students’ reading anxiety was measured with the Reading Anxiety Scale, while their reading attitudes were assessed using the “Garfield” Visual Reading Attitude Scale for Grades 1-6. In addition, process-oriented qualitative data were obtained through a researcher’s journal. Statistical analyses revealed that (1) second-grade students’ reading anxiety scores decreased significantly after participation in the interactive reading program, (2) their reading attitude scores became significantly more positive, and (3) the qualitative findings indicated that the students developed positive experiential responses during the interactive reading process.